In the service news: James Bennett McKelvie

Lt. James McKelvie, of Steamboat Springs, celebrates Christmas in Africa while on deployment with the U.S. Navy.

James Bennett McKelvie, of Steamboat Springs, recently was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the United States Navy.

Lt. McKelvie is serving as a Seabee in the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Three (NMCB 3) in Africa. Since August, he has been the assistant officer in charge and the operations officer for a 150-person detachment that is operating in four countries in Africa.

NMCB 3 is performing humanitarian construction activities. Projects include building schools and a bridge, as well as drilling water wells.

After being accepted into the U.S. Navy's Civil Engineering Corps while a student at Colorado State University in 2003, McKelvie attended Officer Candidate School at Pensacola, Fla., and graduated in the Honor Class of 2005.

His first assignment was at Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hawaii, where he managed numerous construction projects as an assistant resident officer in charge of construction.

In summer 2008, McKelvie served as the embed engineer supporting the Pacific Partnership mission in Papua New Guinea. He joined NMCB 3 in Port Hueneme, Calif., in October 2008.